On the photo to the right, Skyline is the route
which follows the East (L) ridge along its crest
The goats walking down the main street in Zermatt (Photo:
1993)
As the forecast for the day was for rain later on we decided that we
would not risk another bivi in a thunder storm, and instead we would
find a half day which would provide with some entertaining climbing, and
also act as further training for the Matterhorn. For this reason we
chose a route called "Skyline" on the Riffelhorn. The route is
graded AD+ and is a rock route which the Zermatt Guides use as training
for those people who aspire to climb the Matterhorn. We went out to get
breakfast, and on the way we passed the Zermatt goats being led down the
main street. This is a daily occurance as they are led to their pasture
just outside the town.
We got the Gornergrat train to Rotenboden from where we walked to the
bottom of out climb. The first section of the climb was fairly straight
forward climbing, following the ridge up to a more difficult section. As
we approached this difficult section we met a guide with his client. The
guide explained to Al (who was ahead of me) that the next pitch was
grade 5+ (approximately VS) and that it might be too difficult for us.
Al did not mention this to me at the time.
Al struggled up the next section and I followed. This was
particularly difficult as we were practicing in big boots, and I was
still not used to climbing in my plastics. Eventually I made it up
without excessive difficulty (it is surprising the confidence gained by
not knowing the true grade), and the rest of the climb was fairly
straight forward to the summit, where we stopped for lunch. We were
particularly pleased to have reached the summit in guidebook time (1hr).
During lunch we had a view similar to that on the right, which was taken
from the Gornergrat station just above Rotenboden.
The view from the Gornergrat station towards the Breithorn
chain (Photo: 1993)
After lunch we began our desecent the way we had come, and abseiled down
the difficult sections using the pitons and rings which were embedded in the
rock. We joined the Ordinary Route (F) for the final part of the descent, by
which time the cloud was building up once again.
